Aotearoa musician and specialist in traditional Māori instrumentation, Ariana Tikao, is set to grace the stage at London’s legendary Cafe OTO in Dalston on July 27th. A New Zealand Arts Laureate, Tikao is a renowned practitioner and composer of taonga puoro, the traditional instruments of the Māori people, whose sounds were almost silenced by colonisation.
For over three decades, Tikao, of Kāi Tahu descent, has created evocative music deeply rooted in her South Island Māori identity. Her live performances are described as immersive experiences that transport audiences to another realm. This London debut, facilitated by Theo Seffusatti, co-director of Tikao’s publisher Heard and Seen and a former Warp Publishing executive, will see her collaborate with the city’s own Rothko Collective, whose motto is “Classical music. Unboringed”.
The programme will feature newly commissioned works by award-winning composer Karl Sölve Steven, based on Tikao’s traditional Māori chants—a lament and a freedom song. She will also perform “pūāwai” (to blossom) with Rothko’s director Dominic Stokes, a piece that premiered at last year’s International Viola Congress. The performance will be a rich tapestry of composed music, improvisation, spoken word, and video works by fellow Arts Laureate Daniel Belton‘s Good Company Arts.
“I’m looking forward to introducing the unique sounds of our ancestral instruments to the Café OTO community,” Tikao stated, acknowledging the special new pieces written for the occasion.
A versatile and sought-after artist, Tikao has collaborated with a diverse range of musicians, including Marlon Williams (recently interviewed here), thrash metal band Alien Weaponry, and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Following her London performance, Tikao will appear at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford on July 29th, continuing a collaboration focused on connecting cultural treasures with their originating communities. This tour is supported by Creative New Zealand and the New Zealand Music Commission.
Tickets and more information: Café OTO | Pitt Rivers Museum
